68 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



should be at once acquiesced in by the full strength of 

 the field. A master receiving a big subscription is 

 just as much a master as the man who does not receive 

 a penny piece, and whilst he is in office his word 

 should be law. It is true that at times men have been 

 made masters of subscription packs who were unfitted 

 for the position, but where there is a big subscription 

 there is always a committee, and when members of a 

 hunt are dissatisfied with their master he must only be 

 approached through the committee. To interfere with 

 the master in the field is just as much mutiny as when 

 sailors refuse to obey their captain, and too strong 

 emphasis cannot be laid upon the point. 



At the same time it is undoubtedly the case that the 

 master of a subscription pack will further his own 

 interests by finding out, when he can, the wishes of his 

 field as to the days of drawing certain coverts, and by 

 meeting these wishes as far as possible. And it may 

 safely be said that this line of conduct is pursued by 

 ninety-nine masters out of a hundred all over the 

 kingdom. At times, of course, the wishes of one man 

 must clash with those of another, and the master will 

 have to decide between them, but in the case of a new 

 master of a subscription pack, when it is found that 

 he is hunting the country fairly, he ought not to have 

 much trouble in this respect, and when he has he must 

 rely upon his tact alone. What is certain in these 

 days is that every country must be hunted fairly, hounds 

 being taken into every part of it at regular intervals. 

 There must be no shirking of what are considered the 

 worst parts of any country, unless the fox supply gives 

 out, and there should not be too much requisitioning of 

 the best country merely because it is the best. Coverts 

 which are located in a central position will naturally 



\ 



